French conjugation

Auxiliary verbs

There are two auxiliary verbs in French: avoir (to have) and être (to be), used to conjugate compound tenses according to these rules:

• Transitive verbs (direct or indirect) in the active voice are conjugated with the verb avoir.
• Intransitive verbs are conjugated with either avoir or être (see French verbs#Temporal auxiliary verbs).
• Reflexive verbs (or "pronominal verbs") are conjugated with être.
• être is used to form the passive voice. In the passive, it is sometimes necessary to combine conjugated forms of être with avoir as an additional auxiliary verb, e.g. Il a été mangé (It was eaten).

Compound tenses are conjugated with an auxiliary followed by the past participle, ex: j'ai fait (I did), je suis tombé (I fell). When être is used, the participle is inflected according to the gender and number of the subject. The participle is inflected with the use of the verb avoir according to the direct object, but only if the direct object precedes the participle, ex:

• il a marché, elle a marché, nous avons marché (he walked, she walked, we walked)
• il est tombé, elle est tombée, nous sommes tombés, elles sont tombées (he fell, she fell, we fell, they (fem.) fell)
• Il a acheté une voiture. Voilà la voiture qu'il a achetée. (He bought a car. Here is the car he bought)

As stand-alone verbs, the conjugation of the two auxiliaries is listed in the appendix at the end of the article.

First group verbs (-er verbs)

French verbs ending in -er, which constitute the largest class, inflect somewhat differently from other verbs. The endings in the present simple singular are written -e (first person singular), -es (second person singular) and -e (third person singular), while in the other two groups the endings are more usually -s, -s and -t respectively. This variation is purely orthographic, as these endings are not pronounced in speech. Additional orthographic variations are also implemented to reflect pronunciation; see below for spelling rules.

The first group is demonstrated below with parler.

Present participle: parl-ant
Past participle: parl-é
Auxiliary verb: avoir (arriver, entrer, monter, passer, rester, rentrer, retourner, and tomber use être)

Spelling rules:

• In -cer verbs, the c becomes a ç before endings that start with a or o, to indicate that it is still pronounced /s/ (je déplac-e - nous déplaç-ons); similarly, in -ger verbs, the g becomes ge before such endings, to indicate that it is pronounced /ʒ/ (je mange : nous mangeons).
• In -oyer and -uyer verbs, the y becomes an i before endings that start with a silent e (nous envoyons : j'envoie); in -ayer verbs, this change is optional; both je paye and je paie are accepted as standard. Additionally, the future and conditional forms of envoyer start with enverr- rather than envoyer-; and similarly with renvoyer.
• In -é[C]er verbs, where [C] is a consonant, the é becomes an è before silent endings, and optionally in the future and conditional tenses. For example, répéter (to repeat) -> je répète (present) / je répéterai or je répèterai (future) / je répéterais or je répèterais (conditional).
• In -e[C]er verbs other than most -eler and -eter verbs, the e becomes an è before endings that start with a silent e (including the future and conditional endings). For example: peler (to peel) -> je pèle (present) / je pèlerai (future) / je pèlerais (conditional).
• In most -eler and -eter verbs, e is changed to an è before endings that start with a silent e, and l or t are changed to ll or tt. In the rest of these verbs, only one or the other form is considered standard. For example: appeler (to call) -> j'appelle (present) / j'appellerai (future) / j'appellerais (conditional).
• The verbal adjective of following verbs is irregular: adhérer - adhérent; coïncider - coïncident; confluer - confluent; affluer - affluent; converger - convergent; déterger - détergent; différer - différent; exceller - excellent; diverger - divergent; négliger - négligent; précéder - précédent; violer - violent; influer - influent; communiquer - communicant; suffoquer - suffocant; provoquer - provocant; naviguer - navigant; déléguer - délégant; fatiguer - fatigant; intriguer - intrigant.

Exceptional contexts:

• When the first-person singular present tense form of the indicative or subjunctive is found in inversion, authorities require that the final e is changed to either é (traditional usage) or è (modern usage), in order to link the two words : Parlè-je ?, "Am I speaking?". However, this construction is very rare (most common usage in speech and writing would be, Est-ce que je parle ?)
• When the second-person singular form of the imperative is followed by its object y or en, a final s is added: Parles-en !, "Talk about it!"

Irregular verbs:

• envoyer is an irregular in the future and conditional stem - j'enverrai etc., j'enverrais etc. Similarly: renvoyer "resend"
• aller, though it ends in -er, belongs to the third group.

Second group verbs (-ir verbs / present participle ending in -issant)

The -ir verbs differ from the -er verbs in the following points:

• The vowel of the inflections is always -i-, for example -isse in the past subjunctive rather than the -asse of the -er verbs.
• A few of the singular inflections themselves change, though this is purely orthographic and does not affect the pronunciation: in the present simple and past simple, these are -s, -s, -t rather than -Ø, -s, -Ø. (The change in pronunciation is due to the change of vowel from e, ai, a to -i-.)
• In the present simple, imperfect, the present subjunctive, and the present participle, a suffix -iss- appears between the root and the inflectional endings. In the present simple singular, this suffix has disappeared and the endings are -is, -is, -it.

Present participle: chois-iss-ant
Past participle: chois-i
Auxiliary verb: avoir (partir uses être)

Third group verbs

Verbs of the third group have infinitive endings -

• 1st section: -ir, with the present participle ending in -ant
• 2nd section: -oir
• 3rd section: -re
• aller is included in the third group.

The third group contains all verbs not contained in the first two. While the first and second group have very few irregular members there is a great deal of variation in the third group. Nearly all verbs classified as irregular are included in the third group.

The first source of variation in irregular verbs is stem changes. Stem changes can occur in six places. It is possible to say that the verbs have seven principal parts, the first being the infinitive itself. No verb has separate stems for all seven parts; instead, rather they tend to "inherit" the same stem as another part.

The following table shows a conjugation scheme that allows for stem changes. As presented, the table accommodates not only third group verbs but also second group verbs, both having basically the same endings.

A regular second group verb would appear with a stem change in the 1P position and would require a little attention to the 1S stem. The verb choisir is included to represent regular second verbs and haïr is listed as an irregular second group verb. First group verbs would have different endings in some cases but no stem change.

¹ A spelling rule applies here.
² +t if ends with vowel, else +s.
Present participle: 1P-ant
Past participle: PP

Spelling rules

• In the indicative present third person singular the -t is regularly dropped when directly following a d or t (e.g. il vend "he sells", not *il vendt).

The following table gives the stem changes or principal parts for a number of irregular verbs. Stems that are irregular in the sense of being unpredictable by the above rules are given in boldface.

Occasionally endings depart from the norm. This is the second source of irregularity.

Such cases are listed in the table following, again with the irregular occurrences highlighted in bold.

^* See following table for exceptions.
¹ Only in Quebec French.
³ Alternation of "-ai-" and -oi- before consonant or unstressed e, "-ay-" and -oy- before other vowels is automatic in all verbs.
⁶ The stem is inferred though the usual rule does not apply.
⁷ Read G2 as a sub-heading meaning that the following two entries are in group 2. G3 indicates that all following entries are in group 3.

² Case of -t being dropped when directly following a d or t.
⁴ See following table for similar verbs.
⁵ See following table for notes.

Example

Infinitive: recevoir "receive"
INF: recev-
1S: reçoi-
1P: recev-
3P: reçoiv-
FUT: recevr-
PP: reçu-
PAST: reçu-

Present participle: recev-ant
Past participle: reçu

Verbs with irregular subjunctive stem

There are nine verbs which have an irregular subjunctive stem. These verbs are generally the most irregular verbs in French. With them verbs the 3P stem plays no role and the 1S stem is little use in inferring the present indicative inflections. Many of them construct the present indicative (especially the singular) in an idiosyncratic fashion. The verb aller also constructs its past participle and past simple differently, according to the endings for -er verbs.

A feature with these verbs is the competition between the SUBJ stem and the 1P stem to control the first and second plural present subjunctive, the imperative and the present participle, in ways that vary from verb to verb.

The paradigm taking into account the subjunctive stem is shown in the following table. The keys 1S etc are as for the 7 principal part irregular verbs. In addition SUBJ stands for first person singular present subjunctive stem.

¹ +t if ends with vowel, else +s
Present participle: 1P-ant or SUBJ-ant
Past participle: PP(e)(s)

The following table gives the principal parts of the nine verbs. Stems that are irregular in the sense of being unpredictable by the above rules are shown in boldface. The column headed 1/2 Plural tells whether the subjunctive 1st and 2nd person plural follow the subjunctive stem or the 1P indicative stem. Likewise the Imperative column and the Present Participle column. Still there are irregularities where the inflections depart from the paradigm. These cases are indicated with an asterisk and the exceptional inflections are listed separately.

^* See following table for exceptions.

¹ See following table for similar verbs.
² See following table for notes.
³ In Classical French and even in certain dialects (like in Cajun and some Quebec dialects) je vas is used.

Appendix. Conjugation of Avoir, Être and Aller

Avoir

This verb has different stems for different tenses. These are imperfect av-; present subjunctive ai- future and conditional aur-; past simple and past subjunctive e-. Although the stem changes, the inflections of these tenses are as a regular -oir verb.

In the present, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well:

¹ Notice that the imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: avoir
• Present participle: ayant
• Past participle: eu

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Être

This verb has different stems for different tenses. These are all pronounced differently: imperfect ét-; present subjunctive soi-; future and conditional ser-; past simple and past subjunctive in f-. The inflections of these tenses are as a regular -oir verb (that is, as an -re verb but with the vowel u in the f- forms). For example, subjunctive soyons, soyez is pronounced with the y sound of other -re and -oir verbs.

In the present simple, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well:

¹ The imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation.

The non-finite forms use the stem êt- (before a consonant)/ét- (before a vowel):

• Infinitive: être
• Present participle: étant
• Past participle: été

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Aller

The verb aller means "to go" and is sufficiently irregular that it merits listing its conjugation in full, due to being a suppletive verb. It is the only verb with the first group ending "er" to have an irregular conjugation. It belongs to none of the three sections of the third group, and is often categorized on its own. The verb has different stems for different tenses. These are all pronounced differently: past all- (past simple, imperfect, past subjunctive); present subjunctive aill-; conditional and future ir-. The inflections of these tenses are completely regular, and pronounced as in any other -er verb. However, in the present simple, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well:

The non-finite forms are all based on all- :

• Infinitive: aller
• Present participle: allant
• Past participle: allé

Auxiliary verb: être

¹ In Classical French and even in certain dialects (like in Cajun and some Quebec dialects) je vas is used.